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Recently, you, our policyholder, were involved in an accident and might be wondering how you’re going to get around while your vehicle is in the shop for repairs.
Can State Farm help a policyholder pay for a rental vehicle? State Farm Car Rental and Travel Expenses coverage can help cover the cost of a rental while your car, or a newly acquired car, isn’t drivable or being repaired as a result of a covered loss. If you aren’t a State Farm customer but were involved in an accident with a State Farm driver and have questions about getting a rental car, please call 800-SFCLAIM and speak with the claim associate.
Here's a quick way to find out if you likely have car rental and travel expenses coverage on your State Farm car policy. Take a look at your current insurance card and if you see an “r” in the list of coverages, it means you have car rental and travel expenses coverage. You may also be able to rent a vehicle if yours is stolen, and should talk with a claim associate to see if you qualify.
What does your car rental and travel expenses coverage include? State Farm will pay the daily rental charge, which includes the daily rental rate mileage charges and related taxes subject to the list as indicated in your policy for covered losses.
If you have questions about your car rental and travel expenses coverage limits, you’ll want to take a look at the numbers following the “r” on your current insurance card. The first number is for total expenses for each day. This is the most State Farm will pay for the daily rental charges and associated taxes and could be a dollar amount or a percentage for covered losses. The second number is for the total expenses that will be paid for each covered loss. This is the most State Farm will pay for any one covered loss or claim.
Now, let’s discuss when State Farm can start paying for a rental if your vehicle is not drivable, unsafe, or not legal to drive after a covered loss. Your car rental and travel expenses coverage starts immediately. If your vehicle is safe to drive, your rental coverage begins the day repairs start and ends the day repairs are complete, or when you reach your rental policy limit. For your awareness, if your vehicle is determined to be a total loss by us, you may have additional days of car rental and travel expenses coverage from the date State Farm reviews your vehicle valuation with you. This is intended to assist you while you search for a replacement vehicle, but is still subject to your policy limits.
Okay. By now you are probably wondering how you reserve a rental car. You can arrange for a rental vehicle in a number of ways. It’s your choice. You can log in or register for online claim services at statefarm.com. And, if you’re eligible, you will see rental service as an option and may use this convenient online service to reserve your rental. You can also set up a rental reservation through the State Farm mobile app or choose to work with your State Farm agent or claim associate to schedule a rental vehicle.
You can choose to rent a vehicle from any rental provider. However, State Farm has agreements with Enterprise and Hertz to provide rental vehicles at rates that may be lower than those available in the retail market and to bill us directly. If you use a rental provider other than Enterprise or Hertz, you may incur additional out-of-pocket costs.
For your awareness, whichever rental provider you choose, they may require a security deposit and you may be responsible for additional costs and fees such as gas fuel deposit tolls and insurance.
Whether you decide to rent a vehicle or not, State Farm is here to help. If you have more questions regarding the rental process, contact your State Farm agent or call 800-SFCLAIM.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
